


Hopes and Dreams

by InsomniaticFrenchToast



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Characters React to Fandom, Disturbing Themes, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friendship and Love will win, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Non-Binary Chara, Non-Binary Frisk, Non-Binary Monster Kid, Non-Evil Chara, Not Beta Read, Papyrus Is NOT an idiot, Sans Remembers Resets, Spoilers - Undertale Genocide Route, Spoilers - Undertale Neutral Route, Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Saves and Resets, alSO PUNS, everyone has deja-vu but sans remembers more and has actual memories of previous timelines, or rather the game they are in but im writing it like their watching a movie, shameless self indulgance, some of it anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7660639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniaticFrenchToast/pseuds/InsomniaticFrenchToast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk did it, they saved the Underground, released the monsters, and now lives with their adoptive goat mom. The monsters are integrating into human society fairly well. Everything and everyone is at peace. Then Frisk finds a disc, and is rendered unconscious. The only way to save them is for their friends to watch their adventures through the Underground.</p><p>Update 5/11/17</p><p>Chapter 3 is up and i split chapter 4 from it, so this is getting longer n longer by the minute... Chapter 4 is at about 3 k words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 02/12/2017  
> -some major editing and updates made, may cause confusion if not read.
> 
> come visit my tumblr [](http://insomniaticfrenchtoast.tumblr.com>%20here%20</a>)

It’s been months since the barrier was broken.

Humans and monsters have thankfully been able to integrate each other into their daily lives with relatively few incidents of hatred or mistrust.

There seemed to be no outward resentment, from either side.

It probably helped that Frisk lived with and sided with the monsters. If a small human child made it through their lands unharmed and intact, then humans had nothing to fear. Although admittedly most humans still reacted with shock to the news of an entire sentient species existing right underneath their feet

Frisk had been playing at home earlier that morning, Monster Kid and Frisk had been exploring the forest that surrounded New New Home and Edenberg, the nearest human settlement to the monsters’ residence above ground, when they stumbled across a metal box jutting out of a rocky outcrop.

Frisk shook the box and it rattled.

“I wonder what’s inside it?” Monster Kid asked, they grinned. “Ooh! Maybe it’s a pirate’s treasure!”

Frisk gave Kid a doubtful look.

“Well land pirates are a thing right?” Kid says, but Frisk lets out an amused huff and shakes their head.

“Well we ain’t too far from the ocean, and all the books say that pirates love the ocean!” Kid laughs out.

Frisk rolls their eyes, but then looks at the metal box curiously. It’s perfectly smooth and welded into a cube pattern.  Whatever’s inside can’t be too terribly big because the box itself is no larger than Frisk’s two hands put together.

The box suddenly opens itself. Frisk drops it in surprise, but it remains open and unharmed. The two children peer inside to see its contents and find a small round CD disc painted black and with a single red heart on it. The next thing they find is a letter.

Frisk goes to pick up the disc, and as soon as their hand touches it they freeze. Then, just as suddenly, they collapse limp and unresponsive to the forest floor.

“Frisk!” Kid scrambles over to their friend and tries to shout them awake. When that fails they try nudging them with their tail to no avail.

“Oh no, oh no, o-ok, I’ll be right back Frisk! I need to get some help!” They shouted hoping Frisk could hear them as they ran away.

 ---

Toriel sits worriedly on the couch in the living room. Her child lays unresponsive with their head in her lap. She can’t believe this is happening again. She can’t believe she has to sit here with the royal scientist telling her that there is nothing she can do for her child. Sans stood next to the couch staring at Frisk with a quiet worry, though his smile never wavered.

“As far as I can tell, th-there isn’t anything physically wrong with Frisk… their body is as healthy as any human child’s.” Alphys says.

 “I-I can’t find anything wrong with the box or the disc either, your majesty.” Alphys’s shoulders and tail visibly droop and she chews her bottom lip. “B-but there was something weird in the box…there was a letter addressed to us.”

“What?” Toriel glances up from Frisk’s peaceful face to look at the yellow monster. “To us?”

“Y-yes…well to you, Asgore, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and I…” She holds out the letter for Toriel to take. “S-should I stay? Should I call Undyne?”

“Yes. Yes to both. I will call Asgore. Papyrus should be home soon, right Sans?” Toriel looks tiredly at her phone when she fishes it out of her pocket.

“right-o tori.”  The always grinning skeleton was shuffling in place, his hand stuffed in his pockets and his eyes slightly dimmed when he shifted his gaze back to Frisk.

Minutes, that might as well have been hours to Toriel, later those addressed on the envelope were gathered in her kitchen, everyone assembled around the table to read the letter.

Asgore, Undyne, and Papyrus had questions they wanted answers to but neither she nor Alphys could answer any.

Toriel held up her hand as if to silence them. “I am unsure of what has caused this to happen to Frisk, but we are hoping this letter that was addressed to all of us will shed some light on how to help them.”

“ _To those who call this child friend,_

 _Enclosed within the box there was a disc. This disc shows the story of Frisk, their many trials, their many battles, and their many choices in your former home underground._  
  
However, it does not just show Frisk’s story, it also has glimpses of some of your own stories.

_Watch this movie, it may be difficult but try to take a page out of our small friend’s book. Stay determined. Upon completion of the movie the child will awake unharmed._

_However, if any of you choose not to watch this movie, then the child will die after four days have past. They will not be in pain, it will just be as if they have gone to sleep, but they will never wake up again._

_I hope you find peace with either decision._ ”

“It seems there is not much of a choice at all.” Asgore speaks softly. Shaking his head and looking weary.

“We have to save Frisk! There is no other choice!” Undyne shouts, slamming her fist down on the kitchen table.

“FRISK IS MY FRIEND! AND I REFUSE TO ALLOW ANY HARM TO COME TO THEM!” Papyrus agreed enthusiastically.

“so all we need to do to wake the kid up is watch this movie? that’s a pretty bare bones request.” Sans’s grin seems to be a bit more genuine now, even as Papyrus gives him the stink eye.

“Oh there’s another page!” Alphys shuffles the paper around.

_“ If you choose to watch the movie there are rules that must be obeyed._

  1. _Asgore, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys must watch the movie from start to finish, together._
  2. _Others are welcome to watch the movie if it is so desired, but they are not required._
  3. _You will have exactly 96 hours to complete this task, if you fail to meet the requirements of rule 1 by the time the time limit is up, Frisk will die._
  4. _Breaks are allowed. You will see some things you may need to take some time to process. As long as the movie is completed within the 96 hour time limit you will be fine._
  5. _The time starts from the moment the movie is first observed, but the start time cannot extend beyond 24 hours._



_All I want is for all of you to get some of your questions answered and some closure to events of the past._

_Again, if you fail, Frisk **will** die. Frisk will not suffer; their death will not be painful. But they will die. So please either say your goodbyes or watch.”_

“Four days? For a single disc? There must be some catch?” Toriel says face locked in a frown.

“It did say we would see some terrible things too. But Frisk made it out fine, r-right? They freed us too… what terrible things could have occurred?” Alphys speaks looking nervous.

They all look at each other worriedly, but they are resolute. They will save Frisk.

\---

The 'movie' begins with a soft halting melody playing and showing sepia colored scenes of a battlefield, smoke and fire in the distance, blurred bodies and dust on the ground. Words appear on the screen to narrate.

 _“Long ago two races ruled over the earth,_  
Humans and Monsters.  
One day, war broke out between the two races…  
After a long battle, the humans were victorious…  
They sealed the monsters away with a magic spell.

_Many years later…”_

The screen fades to another scene showing Mt. Ebott, and a small human climbing to the top.

_“Legends say that those who climb the mountain, never return…”_

The small human is revealed to be a very familiar looking child, though their sweater is changed, and their face remains hidden. The other monsters all believe this to be Frisk, only Toriel and Asgore recognize the differences.

\---

“Chara!” Toriel gasps out in whispered disbelief “My child. Oh.”

“Chara? As in the first human?” Undyne asks her brows furrowed and mouth set into a frown.

“Y-yes, that’s them. I…I do not know how this video came to be, or why. But they have video of Chara, I haven’t seen them in so long….” Toriel wipes at her eyes, and says no more, all of her attention focused on the video. Asgore watches as well, his normally jolly appearance subdued.

\---

It begins to storm and the child runs to shelter inside a cave. They notice a large opening in the cave floor but with it being so dark they do not see the root sticking up from the ground. As they go to peer into the pit curiously they trip.

They fall.

A  
L  
L  
L  
L

The way down to the ground, where a bed of golden flowers rests amongst the ruins of pillars.

\---

“I-I do not understand how this is possible? Its showing us history in the form of a movie that we can watch, when by all rights no camera or video recorder should have been there, and if this is magic then it is not one that I’ve ever run across before.” Alphys says, her eyes wide as she too stares at the screen pushing her classes up her snout.

 “Shh! Its cut away again!” Undyne shushes

\---

The screen flickers between the sepia tone and normal colors until it finally settles and shows the familiar blue and purple striped form of their friend Frisk. They lay unmoving and unblinking at the camera until suddenly life seems to flow back into them and they sit upright and stare at their surroundings.

It’s silent. Even accounting for how deserted the ruins are and how quiet the underground is in general. There is no noise.

Frisk slowly stands, and stumbles a bit while grasping their head. But begins their trek into the underground. A sweet little tune begins playing as they enter a room with a single beam of light shining on a small yellow flower.

\---

“Oh! That’s Flowey! He was the little flower that told me where everyone was going to be! I wonder what happened to him?” Papyrus questions.

“im sure hes fine pap. Everything’s probably sunshine and daisies with him.” Sans looks at his brother fondly, but his eyes are noticeably dimmer.

Papyrus gives his brother a withering glare at his pun.

\---

“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!” He exclaims happily.

“Hmm…You’re new to the underground, aren’t you?”

Frisk looks around slowly for the voice until they realize that it’s a flower that is speaking to them.

 “Golly, you must be so confused!” Flowey continues his honey sweet smile never leaving his face, but not quite reaching his beady black eyes.

Frisk nods gingerly. Head still hurting from their fall.

“Someone ought to teach you how things work around here!”

Frisk smiles and nods hopefully.

“Guess little old me will have to do!” Flowey winks and huffs a little laugh. “Ready? Here we go!”

The world colors itself black to a battle space. There is no barrier to prevent others from interfering however.

Frisk’s bright red soul appears in front of them and they stare at it in wonder. Their hand reaches out to touch it as Flowey begins his explanation.

“See that heart? That’s your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!”

“Your soul starts off weak! But it can go strong if you gain a lot of LV!”

\---

Gasps ring out through the room. “He told them that!?”

 “Why would he tell Frisk to do such a thing!” Papyrus exclaims worriedly.

“That conniving yellow daisy! I’ll-“ Undyne spits but her rage is interrupted.

“SHH!” Toriel shushes them. “This was the past, there is nothing more that can be done, and Frisk is here with us.”

\---

Frisk sends him a questioning look. Oblivious to the terrible things Flowey is telling them.

“What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE don’t you?” Flowey winks and giggles, like this is the funniest joke he’s ever told.

Frisk nods hesitantly. They know that this place may be dangerous and they need to get strong fast.

“Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!”

Frisk smiles a little worried but mostly relieved.

‘Liar…’

Their smile falters, they swear they just heard someone whisper.

\---

“T-that whisper. What was that?” Toriel runs her hands through Frisk’s hair worriedly.  
  
“I dunno, but I don’t like it.” Undyne frowns.

\---

 “Down here love is shared through little white ‘friendliness pellets’…”

“Are you ready? Move around, get as many as you can!”

Frisk moves towards the glowing bullets swiftly, their soul hovering unprotected in front of them.

\--

“Frisk! No! You need to dodge!” Undyne yells getting too excited and knocking over the coffee table.

“U-undyne this has already happened, we can’t DO anything, we just have to watch.” Alphys chews her bottom lip nervously.

\--

And Frisk cries out, when they fail to dodge. Not having known any better, and trusting in a supposedly harmless creature. It’s a critical hit and their HP falls from 20 to 1.

“You idiot. In this world its kill or be killed!” Flowey laughs, his face having twisted and morphed itself into a grotesque mockery of a smile. “Why would anyone pass up on an opportunity like this!”

He surrounds Frisk’s soul with his white pellet bullets again when a fiery bullet knocks him away. The look on his face would be comical if it weren’t for how seriously injured Frisk was.

“What terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth.” Toriel’s voice appears shortly before the camera pans to her. She’s glaring at the direction Flowey was thrown in.

\--

“That was how I found Frisk, they were badly hurt and that wretched flower was being so rude.” Toriel sighs and gazes sadly at her sleeping child.

“its gonna be ok tori, we just gotta watch the movie like that letter said. aint no bones about it.” Sans says.

Toriel nods, but reaches her hand out to pat Frisk’s head.

\---

Toriel then shifts her gaze to Frisk, who appears quite injured and quite distraught. “Ah do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel caretaker of the ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down.”

She kneels down in front of Frisk. “I will heal you, please, stay still.”

Frisk flinches and backs up a bit, but ultimately holds still, unable to move themselves away from the large goat-like creature. When they don’t feel any pain Frisk opens their eyes to a green glow and a warm feeling surrounding them, their wounds seem to disappear.

‘I feel better than I have in days.’ Frisk thinks. Then, looking away from their previously wounded body, they look to Toriel who is smiling gently at them.

 “You are the first human to fall down here, in quite a long time. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.” She stands up and waits to make sure Frisk is following her before leaving to the next cavern. “This way.”

The next room is filled with a very ominous looking building that Frisk guesses must be the ruins. If they ever want to get out of this dangerous place, this is where their journey will have to start.

A strange feeling fills Frisk as they notice a glowing star at the foot of the staircases. They go to inspect it and their fingers lightly graze the edge of the light.  Instantaneously, although the shadow of the cold and ominous building looms over them, they feel a warmth come from their very soul that seems to refresh them even more so than Toriel’s healing had.

\---

“Is….is that a SAVE?” Alphys looks shocked. “I-I had only ever thought those were myths perpetuated by old war veterans! I didn’t think humans could actually…”

“What is a SAVE?” Papyrus asks eye sockets squinting in confusion.

“it’s a point in time from which a human can return to.” Sans explains, as everyone looks at him with shock.

“How do you know that brother?!”

“eh? i think i watched it on a tv show or something…” Sans usual lazy grin gets a bit tight around the edges and he scratches the back of his skull.

“There were rumors during the war that certain humans had this ability.” Asgore looks troubled. “But we really had no way of proving that they could use this type of power, just theories.”

“I knew Frisk was a very interesting and determined child, but I never imagined them to be **this** powerful.” Toriel says her frown has yet to leave her face.

 


	2. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk travels the ruins with their mysterious voice, they befriend Froggits, flirt with a ghost, buy some bake sale items, and finally find the motherly monster

The group of monsters continue to watch their small human friend make their way through the ruins.

\---

Frisk looks away from the glowing yellow star, smiling. When they look up they see Toriel patiently waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

She leads them through a door and welcomes them once more. “Welcome to your new home innocent one.”

Toriel explains that in the Ruins there are many dangerous puzzles that Frisk must be careful of. That it would be impossible to navigate the ruins without solving these puzzles. She then gives them a quick example of how a puzzle is solved.

Frisk watches attentively, and then goes to try and repeat the process, though since the puzzle was already solved, nothing changes. When Toriel goes into the next room, Frisk notices a plaque on the wall.

 _“Only the fearless may proceed,_  
Brave ones, Foolish ones.  
Both walk not the middle road.”

Frisk worries their bottom lip and then proceeds to follow Toriel.

The next room is filled with yet more puzzles. Though, Toriel had conveniently labeled the switches that needed to be flipped to continue on. Frisk goes along and pulls the levers that need to be pulled and when they have finished Toriel praises them and leads them into the next room where a practice dummy seems to be set up.

‘Toriel seems really nice. I like her. I wish I could stay but…’

Something seems to tell Frisk it wouldn’t be possible.

Frisk snaps out of their slight daydream and looks around confused before refocusing on Toriel.

 “As a Human living Underground, monsters may try and attack you,” She looks at Frisk sternly. “You will need to be prepared for this situation.”

\---

“You actually taught Frisk how to FIGHT? The kid was so bad at it though! They didn’t even want to pound the vegetables with me!” Undyne gapes.

“Well… Not exactly.” Toriel laughs softly.

\---

“However, worry not! The process is simple!” Toriel gestures to the dummy. “When you encounter a monster you will enter a FIGHT, while you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation to stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict.”

Frisk walks over to the dummy at Toriel’s prompting. They stare at it as the world once more turns dark into a battle space.

Frisk notices the various options in front of them for the first time. Their hand hovers over the FIGHT key for just a moment, the last time they trusted a monster they were seriously injured. Toriel has been nothing but kind however and even saved them from Flowey.

They move their hand over the ACT button and CHECK the dummy.

_‘Dummy- ATK 0, DEF 0  
A cotton heart and a button eye, you are the apple of my eye’_

Frisk laughs a bit at that, until their choices are removed from in front of them.

“Not to worry Frisk, it’s Dummy’s turn now. But they won’t harm you.” Toriel explains seeing Frisk’s startled face.

True to Toriel’s word the Dummy remains as still as ever, though it looks like it’s going to fall over any second. When Dummy’s turn ends Frisk’s options return.

They move their hand over the ACT button so that they can try and talk to the dummy.

“So you’re a dummy?” Frisk asks, as though to start a conversation, even though the Dummy seems unresponsive.

Toriel seems pleased however.

The battle space informs them that they have won this encounter.

XP 0, GOLD 0

‘XP? Gold?’ Frisk tilts their head in confusion.

\---

“Wait so Frisk didn’t even know the basics of battle at all!” Undyne shouts.

“I did not think it would be necessary information for a child I planned to keep in my sights at all times.” Toriel stares challengingly at Undyne.

“wow that dummy sure has its mouth sewn up tight.” Sans says, immediately breaking up the tension and prompting groans and an undignified snort from Toriel.

“THAT WAS TERRIBLE BROTHER!”

\---

Toriel leads them further and further into the Ruins, explaining how this next puzzle is one she wants Frisk to solve on their own. Frisk follows but is caught off guard by a Froggit jumping out in front of them, black battle space appearing simultaneously as their soul manifests in front of them.

“Uh, h-hi there, you don’t really wanna fight me, do you?” Frisk asks, voice chipper but wavering.

The Froggit doesn’t seem to understand what Frisk asked them, but before it could take its turn, Toriel interrupts the battle with a well-placed glower towards the Froggit, and it hops away in shame.

Frisk feels relief fill them and smiles at Toriel, who then takes their hand and leads them to the puzzle. That relief leaves them immediately when they see it is a pathway filled with spikes and surrounded by water.

“This is the puzzle but…here, take my hand.” Toriel guides Frisk through the spikes and they pass through them harmlessly. In fact the spikes are dulled down and only act as a wall to prevent passage.

Toriel then praises them for how brave they have been thus far, but her face turns serious. “I have a difficult request to ask of you…”

\---

The room bursts into laughter when they hear that all Toriel wants is for Frisk to walk to the end of the room by themselves. The music has changed to a very tense melody, despite the room knowing full well that Frisk is safe.

“You really did baby Frisk miss Toriel!” Undyne laughs.

“I…I did not have good experience with keeping children safe up until that point…I needed to make sure Frisk could handle themselves at least a little.” Toriel gives a strained smile, avoiding looking at her ex-husband.

“I wonder what this music is about?” Asgore quickly changes subjects, “It seems like there is music to represent different things, have any of you noticed?”

“I WONDER IF IT’S SOMETHING TO DO WITH HOW THE HUMAN IS FEELING!” Papyrus questions his bony hand scratching at his skull.

“i think you’re right pap. we hear what they are thinking in that skull of theirs, so why wouldn’t it give us cues to the kid’s feelings.” Sans shifts his lazy grin over to Papyrus.

“I suppose it is. This music does remind me of the ruins.” Toriel smiles softly running her fingers through Frisk’s hair.

\---

Frisk of course finds Toriel at the end, hidden behind a pillar. Toriel then informs them that she has to go attend to some business, and asks that Frisk stay in the room. “It’s dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea! I will give you a cellphone, if you have need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?”

Frisk glances at the old thing and then back up at Toriel and gives her a bright smile, nodding. They hadn’t known Toriel very long, but they did know that they wanted to impress her. She was nice, and warm, and friendly.

**_‘She's a mom.’_ **

The thought comes once again without prelude.

‘I guess she really is like a mom though. Just like the ones on tv.’

Toriel leaves and they mess around with the cellphone a bit. They accidentally call Toriel and use it as an excuse to say hi.

To be fair Frisk does stay put for a few minutes. They dig patterns in the dirt with the stick they had found earlier, and hum a soft tune.

But boredom sets in very quickly for the young child and soon Frisk is calling Toriel again to try and learn more about this motherly goat woman.

“Oh I am just a silly little lady who worries too much!” Toriel states, her smile audible. “Oh I really must be going now, but please call me if you need anything.”

Frisk looks around the long corridor once more and desperately looks for something to do.

Out of the corner of their eye they see a glimpse of yellow and green burrow under the ground. Feeling exposed, Frisk looks wearily at the entrance to the next room and decides that leaving the room is their best bet.

To be safe they call Toriel.

“Hey mom, what kinda puzzles are there up ahead?”

“Huh? Did you just call me “mom”?”

Frisk’s face flushes in embarrassment, they hadn't meant to call Toriel "mother".

“Would that make you happy? To call me “Mother”?” Toriel lets out a soft laugh. “Well then, call me whatever you like!”

Toriel sobers quickly, however, and asks them if they have left the room. Frisk lies and says they haven’t, because technically they didn’t leave the room they are currently in. The call ends shortly afterwards and Frisk feels a bit guilty at having lied to such a kind woman.

\---

“I knew the child would not stay…but I had hoped. They were very good at keeping out of trouble however, they even made friends with the Froggits and Whimsums.” Toriel once more looks at the sleeping Frisk, who’s only movement was the soft rise and fall of their chest.

“T-that flower is a concern though.” Alphys grimaces.

\---

The next room is the same as the previous ones. Piles of red leaves scattered on the ground, and an entrance to another room to the north. A Froggit appears next to it, but is completely uninterested in battle now, and even offers some advice when Frisk hesitatingly goes to talk to it.

Something about using Mercy after fighting or calming the next opponent they face.

Another glowing star forms when Frisk goes to shift through the dry leaves. Frisk isn’t sure what they are, but they feel a comforting warmth seep into their soul whenever one shows up, and they know that they will have the strength to continue their journey.

**_‘Determination.’_ **

Frisk looks around, but when they can’t find anyone they decide to call out to the voice.

“Hello? Is somebody there?”

Frisk feels a sudden chill fill the air and they shudder. Even their sweater seems unable to stop the cold from seeping into their being.

But still, nobody came.

\---

“Is…is Frisk hearing voices? T-that’s not a good thing right? Humans don’t normally hear those right?” Alphys glances at Toriel, unsure.

“No, they don’t…this voice sounds familiar to me. I cannot quite place it however.” Toriel sighs in frustration.

“I have the same feeling.” Asgore agrees. “I feel as though I have heard that voice before, but it is a faded memory.”

\---

Frisk explores the Ruins some more; they take a monster candy. It looks like licorice but surprisingly does not taste like it, its slightly disappointing. Then they travel along the cavern to an area where the floor looks unstable but they decide to brave it. Frisk lets out a small surprised yelp when the floor falls out from under them and a light huff when they land in a giant pile of dry but soft leaves.

Frisk then runs across their first puzzle, a simple rock switch, and receive a call from Toriel. “For no reason in particular which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch?”

Frisk answers with their preference for Butterscotch and reassures Toriel that they do not hate Cinnamon.

\---

“Strange, I feel as though I had guessed the answer to this question when I first met Frisk. Perhaps I was mistaken…” Toriel furrows her brows.

\---

Frisk has a few more encounters with monsters but it’s only a Whimsum, which looked scared to death and fled before Frisk could even talk to it, and some more Froggits who all just wanted to see what the new human looked like. None of the monsters, save for Flowey, had exhibited any true malice towards the human. Frisk found it odd that they all seemed so interested in their soul however.

They go across a room with crumbling floors. Carefully they make their way across, legs trembling, almost too afraid to breathe.

They encounter a Moldsmal. Frisk is grossed out a bit but wants to know what it is.

_‘Stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive but no brains...’_

Another weird decription. Frisk ignores it.

‘That’s kind of gross.’ Frisk makes a face, but then quickly dodges some odd-looking spores heading towards them.

Frisk tries talking to it but it doesn’t have any effect. The Moldsmal just keeps attacking its turn. Its only when Frisk decides to imitate the Moldsmal that it at all reacts.

‘Such a meaningful conversation!’ Frisk giggles.

Frisk laughs and wiggles back and forth until Moldsmal seems to not want to fight anymore. They spare it and it leaves behind a few gold pieces that Frisk wipes off and places in their pocket.

\---

“Frisk is kind of an odd kid aren’t they…” Undyne, chuckles a bit at their antics.

“THE HUMAN DOES INDEED HAVE SOME MIGHTY GOOD DANCE MOVES! THEY EVEN MANAGED TO BEAT METTATON!” Papyrus glances over at his small friend with a smile. “I HOPE THEY’LL WAKE UP AGAIN SOON! METTATON HAS BEEN GOING ON AND ON ABOUT A REMATCH NOW THAT HE TOO HAS LEARNED SOME MORE HUMAN DANCES!”

“Ah, well I’m sure Frisk would love to teach him some more.” Toriel says softly her eyes also glancing over at the sleeping child.

\---

Frisk continues along in their journey, finding mice and ‘SAVE’ing, moving rocks, and solving puzzles, when they find a ghost laying in the middle of the pathway.

Frisk approaches the ghost, who is just saying “z” aloud repeatedly, and who seems very reluctant to engage with them at all.

“Look, I need to get through here, and Its rude to step on people or through people? So Could you please move?”

“zzzzzzzz”

“Ok well can I help you move?” Frisk frowns as they reach down to try and help the ghost up.

Their world darkens into the all too familiar magic of a battle.

 ‘Here comes Napstablook!’ Frisk CHECKs the stats. ‘ATK 10 DEF 10 This monster doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor…’

“Oh I’m **real** funny.” Napstablook responds. Frisk is so surprised the ghost can see what Frisk’s CHECK says, they fail to dodge the rain of acidic tears coming from Napstablook. Frisk is hit, but it doesn’t do too much damage other than a slight burn.

“Ow, wait! Stop! Please don’t cry!” Frisk tries to console during their turn.

“Really not feeling up to it right now. Sorry…” No attacks come forth.

“I’m sure you’re a really nice ghost! I don’t want to fight either!” Frisk says trying once more to be comforting, and convince the poor ghost they don’t want to fight.

After another attack, and another attempt at cheering them up, Napstablook finally seems to realize Frisk isn’t interested in fighting. They show Frisk their “Dapperblook”.

“You look absolutely “boo”-tiful!” Frisk winks.

Napstablook’s face seems to glow even more than the rest of their body. In fact their body begins to fade away. “oh no….”

Frisk just stares in the spot where the ghost had once been, dumbfounded.

\---

“heh. the kid has some nice jokes. might be in for some competition.” Sans chuckles.

“Napstablook is the one that told me about the human wandering the ruins…” Undyne states unusually quiet.

“Blooky is a quiet ghost, but they’re nice, and a g-good judge of character. W-what did they say?” Alphys looks at her girlfriend.

“Napstablook told me the human was nice. That nobody had ever been so nice… I…didn’t believe them.” Undyne has an uncharacteristic frown on her face. “I fought Frisk because I believed it to be the only way for monsters to leave the underground. I wanted so badly for the human that fell to be a villain.”

“You are not the only one guilty of fighting humans, and you are not guilty of taking any of their lives.” Asgore is somber. “I cannot claim the same for myself.”

“Please let us just continue watching.” Toriel bites out, ending the unpleasant conversation.

\---

Frisk continues on and sees a door to the north and a door to the east. The eastern door has a sign advertising for a Spider Bake Sale. Curious, they go to investigate and wind up buying a spider cider and a spider donut from the bake sale.

_‘Made with whole spiders, not just the juice.’_

Frisk scrunches up their face.

_‘Spider donuts: Made with spider cider…and spiders…’_

Frisk sticks their tongue out in disgust but tucks the food away in their pockets. Their thoughts sure are strange today.

They travel north into a room full of Froggits. They had fought Frisk earlier and noticed their struggles with dodging and figuring out the protocol for using MERCY..

“Monster battles use turns, whoever initiated the battle will have already used their turn, when their turn ends, and yours begins. You can use MERCY or FIGHT at any of your turns, but a monster may not accept a SPARE, so you may indeed have to FIGHT or calm them with ACTs until they no longer want to FIGHT. Monsters turn their names Yellow when they will accept a SPARE. Some day you may have to SPARE someone who’s name is not yellow.”

Frisk contemplates this. The ability to recognize when a monster didn’t want to fight anymore could be really useful. But would they really have to FIGHT someone until their name turned yellow? Couldn’t they just ACT?

\---

Toriel smiles “The Froggits were always so nice to the children that passed through. I am glad they taught Frisk a little about how battles work, since I was so short sighted.”

\---

Toriel calls Frisk up again to check in. She lets them know she is cleaning a bit before she will come to collect them.

On and on they go, finding more puzzles and solving them. They find a light blue ribbon they pick up and tie in their hair.

They even manage to find Napstablook again, but the ghost disappears when they realize ghosts can fly and go through walls.

They make it through a few corridors and caverns with a few tougher not so friendly monsters. Their HP slowly dwindles from its normal 20 to

Frisk worries their bottom lip as they continue limping along and pressing the buttons needed to progress. ‘What if I can’t ever find Toriel again.’

Frisk shakes their head as if to get the thoughts out. ‘Just hafta keep looking on the bright side. I’m sure I’ll find her. I hope she won’t be too mad that I left the room.’

**_‘Be careful Frisk…’_ **

Frisk stopped abruptly at the voice.

“Okay I know I’m not imagining it now. Hello? I won’t hurt you!” Frisk called out listening for a reply.

 ** _‘I know…’_** The voice gives an echoing reply.

‘Then why won’t you come out and see me?’ Frisk thinks petulantly

**_‘I can see you. I am with you now.’_ **

‘What.’ Frisk pauses. ‘Wait what? You can read my mind?’ Frisk squirms a bit at the revelation.

The voice does not respond.

‘Hey wait, come back!’ Frisk implores.

**_‘I’m weak… I’ve been asleep for so long.’_ **

‘Ok, tell me how I can help you.’ Frisk tries again to get the voice to respond, but it seems to have faded out again.

\---

“I just wish I knew why this voice sounds so familiar.” Toriel huffs in frustration. “I am positive I have heard it before but it echoes so much I cannot remember who it belongs to.”

“I do not know of any monsters that are able to communicate with others telepathically. Or any monsters aside from ghosts that can become invisible.” Asgore frowns in confusion.

“Indeed, it is troubling. Why has Frisk not mentioned this before? Is the voice still with them?” Toriel stares at Frisk once more, face growing contemplative.

\--

Frisk decides to ignore the voice for now and continues onward. They pass by a room they can faintly see has a tree growing in it and decide to explore that one later. The corridor eventually opens into another room where a Froggit greets them and tells them Toriel had passed through just a few moments ago. They explore through the doorway the Froggit pointed towards but only see a vast empty city underneath the balcony they stand upon and a plastic toy knife.

**_‘Take it.’_ **

Frisk stares at the knife.

A weight settles in Frisk’s heart as they pick up the knife and pocket it. They’ll keep the stick for now, it’s just in case after all.

\---

Sans watches the Frisk on screen warily, and then glances at the human laying still next to Toriel.

Nobody notices.

“That was left by Patience…” Toriel smiles sadly. “They were a good child. All of them were, but Patience was the first to fall down after the decree… they even chose to stay in the ruins far longer than any other child.”

Asgore remains silent as his sins way heavily on his back.

\---

Frisk returns to the corridor and make their way to the wide opening where they can clearly see a tree growing in the middle of a clearing. All of its leaves have fallen, and since it’s the only tree Frisk has seen so far, they assume it’s also the source of the leaves.

They see Toriel with her phone out, and then hear their own phone ring moments later. Toriel must hear it as well, because she comes over to find Frisk in front of her and clearly **not** where she had left them.

“Oh my, are you hurt? There, there, I will heal you, and you will be receiving an apology.” Toriel glares over Frisk’s shoulder into the caverns behind them.

“It was irresponsible of me to leave you for so long, just to try and surprise you..er… well, I suppose there is no use trying to hide it now. Come small one.”

Frisk feels relief flood through them at having finally found Toriel. Their determination returns and they see another star form in front of the small tidy house Toriel leads them to.

 ‘It is a nice little house.’ Frisk thinks privately as they touch the star and moves inside the home.

They enter the house, upon which Toriel tells them that the delicious aroma Frisk smells is a butterscotch cinnamon pie she was baking to celebrate their arrival. She tells them she’ll hold off on snail pie for now.

Frisk thanks her for more than one reason.

Toriel surprises Frisk yet again by leading them down a hallway and to a door she claims is their new bedroom.

Frisk feels tears prick at their eyes. ‘I’ve never had my own room…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place this nice.’

\---

The monsters all frown at each other.

 “I-I do not think Frisk has ever mentioned their living conditions before falling underground.” Toriel frowns and strokes Frisk’s hair comfortingly.

Nobody said what they were thinking, that they weren’t very good conditions.

\---

“T-thank you, Toriel.” Frisk chokes out and rushes to hug Toriel.

Toriel just gently smiles down at Frisk and pats their head. “There, there.” She stops and sniffs suddenly eyes going wide. “Is something burning? Um, make yourself at home.” With that Toriel rushes away towards presumably the kitchen.

Frisk enters the bedroom, it’s a deep maroon color, and there is a single twin sized bed shoved in the corner. The room looks clean if not a little dusty in areas. An empty picture frame and some childrens’ drawings of flowers hang on the wall.

Frisk finds a bunch of different shoes in a box, all in different sizes and styles. None of them fit.

Frisk finds a bunch of toys, though none of the toys are particularly interesting to them.

When they open the dresser they find a closet full of green and yellow striped sweaters.

‘I wonder who this belonged to?’ Frisk thinks feeling the warm woolen sweaters.

‘So are you just in my imagination or…well I guess if you were my imagination you wouldn’t know…or you’d answer how I wanted you too?’ Frisk scrunches their nose, this was getting confusing.

  ** _‘I am a part of you. But I am so weak. I cannot help you much.’_**

Frisk frowns as they flop onto the bed, bouncing slightly. ‘Thats not true, you know things. You act like you’ve been here before, so you can help me navigate.’

Frisk is quiet for a moment. ‘What’s your name? Have you been here before?’

**_‘My name is Chara. I am…unsure…it feels familiar’_ **

‘Chara.’ Frisk feels a warmth fill their soul, the same as when they touch one of the glowing stars.

‘Lets work together Chara. I’ll help you and you can help me.’ Frisk yawns and their eyes slowly close.

\---

“C-chara?” Toriel and Asgore gasp simultaneously.

“What?” Toriel has tears in her eyes. “H-how can this be?”

“Chara…like the first human who fell?” Undyne asks unusuaally subdued.

“Yes.” Toriel stares at the screen in shock. Somebody has paused the events onscreen so that the King and Toriel can process this information.

“W-what is-” Toriel shakes her head slightly. “How is Chara talking to Frisk? They have been dead for years. My poor child.”

Asgore’s voice shakes and his fingers tightly grip the sides of the armchair he is sitting in. “This… This is unheard of. How can this possibly be? Is this some trick?”

The room is quiet. No one is quite sure of an answer to give that doesn’t carry the fear of hurting Toriel, and no one can find any comforting words to give the grieving mother.

“Please if you all would be so kind. I would like a moment to myself. Just a moment, please.” Toriel’s face is covered by her hands, and her voice is tired.

“sure tori, take however long ya need.” Sans comfortingly pats her back as he gets up to leave the room.

As everyone ushers out of the room Asgore hangs back just a moment to look at his ex wife, the mother of his children. He goes to speak, but rethinks his actions and follows the others to the patio.

“I am going to tend to the garden. I will be back shortly.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took a lot longer than the week I thought it'd be. Bright side is: I have chapter 3 started. Downside is: that I'm finally going back to school after like 5 and a half years. 
> 
> I'm taking a lot of science and writing classes so...Imma be busy. Leave me a comment if you liked it. Or a Kudo. I prefer comments because then I can tell you I love you for even reading my story. But kudos are fine if you are really truly worried that I don't want to read your comment (though idk why, I'll love you for just saying "It was good" or "I liked the thing with the stuff") 
> 
> I love you all!
> 
> Chapter 3 should be out within a week or two. Cant say for certain what day yet.


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heartache of a mother. The determination of children.

After Asgore leaves the others decide to head back inside to sit in the kitchen.

“I don’t like this.” Undyne growls out.

“Me neither.” Alphys agrees and moves her head to lean against her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“SANS…WHATS WRONG?” Papyrus was watching his brother, he had seemed a bit off.

“eh? it’s nothing paps…i’m just being a bonehead. ” Sans shoots another one of his grins at Papyrus, this time with a wink.

“SANS!” Papyrus groans. “I’M BEING SERIOUS, YOU LOOK TROUBLED!”

Sans sighs and shrugs his shoulders. “it’s fine pap. it’s not anything you need to be worrying about.”

Papyrus continues staring at him, unconvinced, and sans lets out a bigger sigh. “ok pap, i’ll tell ya if it gets too bad. So just stop brothering me alright?”

Papyrus lets out a squawk of indignation. "I am YOUR BROTHER AND I WILL "BROTHER" YOU AS MUCH AS I CAN SANS, BUT I WILL LEAVE YOU ALONE ABOUT IT... FOR NOW...” He squints at Sans, who just shrugs again and looks at the wall, covered in Frisk’s drawings. Pointedly ignoring Papyrus’s worried glances.

“Y-you know you can tell us too Sans-s. Y-you don’t have to hide anything.” Alphys stutters out. “W-well I mean I guess you do…we all do. We all have secrets… b-but, the point is that we’re y-your friends! We’ll help you if you need it.”

“Yeah! I’m sure we’ve all done things we’re not proud of…but… the important thing is that we try to do better than we did!” Undyne shoots a toothy grin over at Papyrus. “Isn’t that right Papyrus!”

“YES! YOU ARE CORRECT UNDYNE!”

“heh, thanks guys. it’s truly sansational that you would be there for me in my time of need.”

“UGH! I THINK HE’S FEELING BETTER!” Papyrus groans in disgust.

“It’s gotta be hard for Toriel, I mean…” Alphys trails off.

“Yeah...” Undyne agrees. Her grin falling.

It grows quiet again and it remains quiet for some time, nobody wanting to disturb the peace. Unfortunately they were on a time crunch. Nobody knew how long the movie would be, when Alphys tried to fast forward or rewind it, it just froze.

“Should we, I mean it’s been about 40 minutes now, should we go to get Asgore and Toriel?” Alphys asks looking at her cellphone.

“Yeah. I’ll go grab King Fluffybuns, you guys should see if Toriel is ready.” Undyne says as she leaves.

It was Sans who knocked on the living room door and cautiously called out to Toriel, who answered almost immediately.

“Yes? What is it?”

“heya tori, i just wanted to see if you were ready.”

“Oh, oh my I can’t believe I wasted time like that! Has it been an hour already? Please. We should continue.” Toriel glances up at the clock with worry.

Everyone begins the process of piling back into the living room and arranging themselves on the couch.

\---

Frisk’s dreams were strange flashing images.

A young human with red eyes hugs a small creature with fur and long droopy ears.

Buttercups, yellow dazzling flowers, and the smell of copper combined with a thick choking dust.

A terrible howl of anguish.

Frisk wakes up with a gasp and the room is dark.

\--

“Frisk never mentioned such dreams.” Toriel speaks unhappily once more returning to her habit of petting Frisk’s hair to calm herself. “How could they dream of Chara’s memories? Why are their Souls so connected?”

\--

Frisk can vaguely see the shapes of the furniture thanks to the streams of light coming through the cracks in the door. A slice of the pie Toriel had made was set on the floor.

‘I wonder what that was all about.’ Frisk thought, curious and frightened about the dream, but shrugging it off as a nightmare born from being in a strange new place with stranger-still creatures.

‘Chara are you still there?’

‘Yes.’ Its faint.

Frisk picked up the pie and stored it away in an old dusty backpack they find underneath the bed. They decided to save it for later. Just in case.

Frisk makes their way out of their new room and into Toriel’s hallway. It’s a rather nice little house and there seem to be long brown plants everywhere. There are also dead flowers sitting in vases.

\--

“I was never any good at caring for plant life.” Toriel smiled sadly. “That’s why I only kept water sausages and cacti, they don’t require much upkeep, but at least they add some color to the house.”

\--

Frisk glances into the room next to theirs and sees it is Toriel’s room. They look around uncomfortably. It was rude to snoop, wasn’t it?

‘I’m curious too, we should learn more about who we stay with.’

‘I-it’s still rude.’ But Frisk concedes to their point and goes inside to look around. They notice a cactus in the corner, it looks so friendly with its round little arms high in the air and a flower on it’s “head” but its spikes hurt.

‘Truly the most tsundere of plants.’

Frisk smiles a bit at Chara’s sense of humor. Then they go to examine Toriel’s bed (bigger than a twin), and her bookcase which has a golden flower in a pot blooming on top of it. They grab a random book and it tells them the name of the brown plants (Typhae or Water Sausages). They feel a bit smarter after having learned this fact.

They put the book back on the bookshelf and go over to Toriel’s dresser and peek inside the top drawer.

‘Socks.’ Chara’s amusement is nearly palpable when Frisk lets out a scandalized gasp.

Frisk ignores them and goes to the desk where Toriel’s diary appears to be left open.

\--

“Frisk is a nosy little kid aren’t they?” Undyne deadpans.

“Oh? It’s alright, they were just curious. Children can’t help but want to know their surroundings… Chara and Asriel both managed to get in trouble snooping in places they shouldn’t have been…”Toriel trails off. Her eyes are sad but she will not let herself bedistracted by the past that cannot be changed.

\--

Frisk reads the passage. ‘Why did the skeleton need a friend? Because she was feeling BONEly…’ a look at the next page reveals more jokes of a similar caliber and Frisk lets out a surprised huff of laughter.

Frisk feels Chara’s amusment bubble up alongside Frisk’s own.

Frisk decides it’s odd being able to feel things but know that it’s not Frisk feeling it.

‘They’re bad.’ Frisk thinks but smiles nonetheless.

\--

Sans grin widens and he seems to genuinely be pleased that his jokes made it into her diary. “stealing my material tori? i knew you thought i was humerus.”

“Oh Sans you know I just wanted to write down the ones that tickled my funny bone!” Toriel snorted at her own pun as the others in the room just groaned.

“No don’t you dare start this Sans!” Papyrus said exasperated.

“aw paps, are tori’s puns getting your goat?”

“STOP!” Papyrus wails, exasperated. Although; he really is glad his brother’s odd mood seems to have lifted and so his voice really isn’t as irritated as he would like it to be.

\--

Frisk leaves Toriel’s room after looking at the bucket full of snails and sticking their tongue out in disgust.

There is another room next to Toriel’s but its locked and a sign says it’s under renovation. The mirror next to it gives Frisk a good look at themselves however. Their hair is disheveled and they’re a bit dirty with a smudge of dirt right over their nose. But, their brown eyes are clear and their expression looks very…determined.

‘It’s you.’ Chara narrates.

Frisk looks away and snorts at their antics.

The cabinets and shelves in the main hallway reveal nothing of import. Just some well read books, and a calendar dating from 201x.

‘Why is it from so long ago? Or is it a monster calendar?’ Frisk wonders.

They make their way over to the main entrance way and examine the staircase leading down into darkness.

‘I wonder what’s down there.’

Frisk decides to go see for themselves what’s in the basement. Toriel did say to make themselves at home. They follow the staircase down into a long dark corridor, but before they can get to the end Toriel discovers them and leads them back upstairs.

“Oh you don’t want to be down here child! You’ll catch a cold!” Once Toriel leads them upstairs she lets go of their hand and wanders over to the other main room that Frisk has yet to explore. Frisk follows her there.

‘Guess she’s worried about me getting sick.’ Frisk thinks, when another thought pops into their head.

‘Hey, if I get sick will you get sick too?’

Chara is quiet for a moment. ‘I’m a part of you, but I am apart from you.’

Frisk thinks on that a moment as well.

The next room reveals a living space with a brightly burning fireplace, bookshelves, and a table with three chairs, one of which looks just the right size for a child, even though Frisk has yet to see any other children around. Perhaps it was for one of the smaller monsters in the area?

Toriel is sitting in a chair in front of the hearth with a book in her lap. She glances up at the sound of Frisk approaching and smiles broadly and full of warmth.

‘She really seems to care. It’s nice. Weird, but nice.’

‘She really is like a mom, she must be one. Her kids must’ve grown up by now and left, but she’s still got so many kids toys and clothes…’

‘Really? I never had a mom, I had an Auntie and a Papa, she didn’t like me very much. I caused her too much trouble, cost her too much money, Papa liked me but he got sick and …’ Frisk’s thoughts drift and their eyes go distant. ‘I waited for her but she never came back. Nobody did.’

\---

Toriel continues to pet Frisk’s hair, her paws running through the silky strands and smoothing it as her face grows grim.

“THE HUMAN’S PREVIOUS CARETAKER PURPOSEFULLY ABANDONED THEM? HOW CAN ANYONE BE SO CRUEL! CERTAINLY, THEY MUST HAVE HAD A REASON IT PROBABLY WASN’T VERY GOOD BUT THEY MUST’VE HAD ONE!” Papyrus shifted nervously back and forth in his seat worrying his gloves.

“I know you don’t like it, but sometimes people ain’t so nice paps. gotta admit this rattles my bones a bit too.”

“Frisk never mentioned…I mean I assumed they had no family and that was why they stayed but…” Toriel glares at the television. “If that woman ever shows her face to me, I am not sure what I will do.”

They continue to watch.

\---

“Up already I see?” Toriel rests her book on her lap, giving Frisk her undivided attention. She lets them know about how happy she is to have them here, with her in the Ruins. She wants to show them books and bug hunting spots. She even has a plan for their education. This doesn’t surprise Frisk as Toriel seemed very much like some of their teachers back on the surface.

Frisk hesitates then. They don’t want to upset Toriel, but they really can’t stay. If the underground is as full of dangerous monsters as Toriel claims, then they need to leave soon. They wanted to help Chara too. “How do I leave the ruins?”

\--

Toriel frowns. “Frisk stayed with me for nearly two weeks before they asked to leave. This movie would have us believe it had only been a few hours.”

Sans’ smile falters only slightly, he barely has any hope that the movie wouldn't include any Resets.

\--

Toriel’s face fell. “What? But this is your home now… um… would you like to hear about this book? It’s called ‘72 Interesting Snail Facts’.”

Frisk frowns a bit as Toriel tells them the fact. They nod when she asks if it was interesting. They don’t want to push the issue but they really should be leaving. They decide to give her a bit more space and explore some more. They go to the bookshelf and grab the first book they see and flip to a random page.

“Trapped behind the barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern’s end this was our new home, which we named “Home”. As great as our king is, he’s pretty lousy at names.”

\---

Asgore looked sheepish. “Ah, yes. I know this is true. But everyone insists that I must be the one to name these things! For some reason…”

Toriel frowned as she hummed in thought. “I must have been mistaken! I seem to be misremembering a lot of what Frisk actually did.”

\---

Frisk put the book back.

‘Humans put monsters here?’ Frisk frowned. ‘But…Toriel has been so nice to me. I don’t understand.’

Chara had no input to give. Frisk imagined it was a mental shrug. ‘You have seen for yourself what humans can do.’ There was no small amount of bitterness in their voice.

Frisk finished looking around the house by going to the kitchen. There really wasn’t anything of interest in there except for the rest of the pie, which was too large and heavy looking for Frisk to risk trying to cut another slice. Especially when they still had the one Toriel cut for them. There was also a brand name chocolate bar in the fridge for some reason.

‘I love chocolate…’

They walked out of the kitchen and reluctantly went to ask Toriel how they could go about leaving the Ruins. She tried to distract them with more snail facts. Frisk insisted however, they couldn’t keep imposing on Toriel like they were.

Toriel suddenly stands up. “I have to do something, stay here!”

Toriel leaves the room and Frisk follows nervously. They can’t stay. They need to make Toriel understand that they must leave.

They follow Toriel downstairs into the corridor that she had tried to prevent them from going through earlier. She pauses when she hears them and sighs. She does not turn around.

“You wish to know how to return “Home” do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one way exit to the rest of the underground.” She takes a deep breath, steadying herself. “I am going to destroy it.”

Frisk’s eyes widen and their mouth falls open in surprise. They quicken their pace, their shorter legs struggling to keep up with Toriel’s longer and quicker strides.

Toriel continues ignoring Frisk. “No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs.”

Frisk refuses and continues behind her.

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again.” Toriel’s voice trembles. “They come. They leave. They die.”

Frisk stops at that glancing at Toriel’s back with trepidation. They had suspected other humans had fallen down here. There were too many legends on the surface about Mt. Ebott for them to be purely mythical.

“You naïve child, if you leave the Ruins….they…Asgore… will kill you.” Toriel’s voice though trembling now has an edge to it. Warning or reprimand, Frisk cannot tell. “I am only trying to protect you, do you understand? Go to your room!”

\---

Asgore slumps, looking defeated. He glances at his ex-wife but she refuses to look at him. Instead she stares at the screen with such an intense look that she may as well be trying to turn it to ash.

\---

Frisk hesitates, only for a moment. Then a warmth fills their soul.

Determination.

Frisk will leave.

“Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.” Toriel glances back at them over her shoulder. Her eyebrows are drawn together and her mouth is set into a frown.

When Frisk does not listen and Toriel sees that they are still set on leaving, her face falls into an emotionless mask, her eyes stare through them. “You are just like the others…there is only one solution to this. Prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”

The world turns dark as Frisk’s soul appears in front of them. Toriel initiated a battle.

Once more music plays, though this time it is much more sorrowful sounding. It speaks of heartache.

\---

“You fought Frisk?” Asgore asks looking at Toriel in shock.

“I had no intention of harming them, I wanted to scare them so that they would not leave and risk being killed as all the others were.” Toriel refused to look at anyone. “It was wrong of me. I have since apologized to Frisk and they have since forgiven me. But…It was still wrong.”

“eh the kid made it out fine right? no problem.” Sans shot a lazy grin at Toriel.

“This music keeps popping up whenever the kid is in battle? Has anyone else noticed the music in the background normally?” Undyne asks.

“I think maybe its related to us somehow, maybe how Frisk sees us?” Alphys gulps nervously.

“WAIT DOES THAT MEAN WE ALL GET COOL MUSIC? LIKE A THEME SONG?” Papyrus claps his hands in delight.

“heh wonder if mines got a trombone in it”

“SANS.”

\---

Frisk didn’t want to fight. They had to think of something to convince Toriel not to fight. They tried telling her but that didn’t work. They tried pleading with her but she still attacked.

‘Talking isn’t helping! She isn’t listening anymore!’ Chara gritted out annoyed.

‘I don’t care! I don’t want to fight!’ Frisk bit back.

Frisk wasn’t paying attention. Their HP was pretty low, but they had been guiding their soul and dodging the fireball attacks pretty well.

They were hit and let out a soft cry. HP 15/20

They tried SPARING Toriel but she didn’t accept it.

The Fight button glowed.

“Please.” Frisk begged, sweat was causing their hair to stick to their face, and red sunburned patches of skin had begun to appear from the damage.

HP 10/20

Their soul hurt. Frisk just didn’t want to fight.

\---

The room was silent as they watched the fight with rapt attention. Toriel was frowning again.

“Wait. No that’s not how this went…Frisk just kept SPARING me, they refused to fight back at all…. I didn’t get that many hits on them…I’m almost sure of it…”

“Maybe your memory is a bit fuzzy? I mean this was quite a while ago.” Undyne says shrugging her shoulders.

\---

‘Shes gonna kill me!’ Frisk panics tears welling up and making it harder to see.

‘The knife.’

Frisk thought back to the toy knife, back to that just in case,

\---

The group can clearly see Frisk’s HP at the bottom of the screen, they watch as it slowly ticks down farther and farther.

Toriel is getting increasingly worried. “This doesn’t seem right at all! Frisk did sustain damage but I swear they had managed to convince me before their health was so low.”

“Why isn’t Frisk dodging? They were great at it! I don’t understand!” Undyne yelled, frustration evident in her tone.

\---

Toriel’s attacks hit them again. Though the attacks did seem to be aimed elsewhere than at Frisk, passing close enough for the heat to warn Frisk of danger, but not close enough to harm them.

“Please Toriel! Let’s just talk about this!”

Frisk tripped into an oncoming attack.

‘She didn’t mean it.’ Frisk thought as they let out a cry, fell down, and curled into themselves in pain. Frisk looked at Toriel, tears forming in their eyes. ‘She didn’t mean it, right?’

 

HP 0/20

 

The Toriel on screen’s face warped into one of shock and horror, covering her mouth to stifle her gasp.

The red soul glimmered beautifully in the dim light of the cavern. Then it shuddered. Then it shattered.

\---

“NO!” Toriel cried her face mimicking that of her onscreen counterpart. She clutched Frisk closer to her, as though afraid they would disappear.

Everyone else was just as shocked. Even Sans’ eyes were wide open in surprise.

Nobody had expected for Toriel to be able to kill someone, let alone a child.

“The kid died?!” Undyne gaped, looking at the former queen with wide eyes.

“W-wait guys…” Alphys raised her voice just slightly over the panicking Undyne. “L-look.”

\---

The screen had cut to black soon after Frisk’s soul had shattered.

A single voice echoes in the darkness “Stay Determined”

 

Slowly but surely the emptiness lit up to show Frisk standing in front of two glowing buttons.

 

Continue                   Reset

 

\---

“Reset…what? What magic is this?” Toriel’s face is still warped into one of shock, her hands petting Frisk’s hair and face absentmindedly, as though to remind herself that her child was still there.

Everyone just looks at each other with equal amounts of confusion.

Sans sighs softly and sinks further into the couch. Suddenly wishing he could take a nap.

“Shit.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment if you did, or dont, kudos work too.


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